Group Files Complaint against Judge over Marriage Sentence

AUSTIN (AP/Staff) – A group that advocates for the separation of church and state has filed a complaint about a Texas judge who ordered a man to marry his girlfriend as a condition of probation. The Freedom From Religion Foundation said Friday it filed the complaint against Smith County Court-at-Law No. 2 Judge Randall Rogers a day earlier with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct in Austin. Rogers’s action had already prompted a letter of objection from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Rogers gave 21-year-old Josten Bundy 30 days to marry 19-year-old Elizabeth James or face 15 days in jail on a guilty plea for misdemeanor assault. Bundy admitted he punched Jaynes’ ex-boyfriend twice in the jaw for “saying disrespectful things” about her. Rogers also ordered Bundy to scrawl a Bible verse 25 times daily. Rogers didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.